Sunday, October 7, 2007

Futile Negotiations

By that, I am not referring to multi-party peace negotiations (which I sincerely hope aren’t futile) or multi-national business negotiations (which rarely are). Nor negotiations with a 2-year-old pulling a temper tantrum (where we can truly lose all control) or negotiations with tempting dessert dishes (where we have more control than we’d like to realize).

Not at all – I am referring to truly futile negotiations where we absolutely know no deal can be brokered, but continue to try anyway. For example, speaking to the skies while washing your car and attempting to reach an agreement that it doesn’t rain that same day… in the heart of rain season. Or carefully brushing your hair and attempting to convince the gray hairs that they would be uniquely special if they don’t invite more company. But my all-time favourite is one that I fall prey to practically every morning: negotiating with my alarm clock and snooze button to slow down time; wouldn’t that be nice?